Florida Hotel and Restaurant License Requirements

To operate a hotel, motel, vacation rental, restaurant, food truck, or any other public lodging or food service establishment in Florida, you need an active license from the Division of Hotels and Restaurants (DHR) within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Meeting Florida’s hotel and restaurant license requirements means clearing local zoning and fire approvals, completing a plan review if you serve food, having a certified food protection manager on staff, submitting an online application with the correct fees, and passing an opening inspection before you serve a guest or customer. Operating without a license is a second-degree misdemeanor under Florida Statute 509.241, and the division can add administrative fines of up to $1,000 for each day the doors stay open unlicensed.¹

Which License You Need

The DHR issues two families of licenses, and the classification you choose controls your application form, your fees, and which inspections apply.

Public lodging licenses split first by rental term. A transient establishment rents units for periods shorter than 30 days or one calendar month; a nontransient establishment rents for 30 days or longer.² Within those, you pick the specific type that fits the property: hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, vacation rental condo or dwelling, timeshare project, or nontransient apartment. The number of rental units then drives the fee and the license size.

Public food service licenses cover any place where food is prepared, served, or sold for immediate consumption. That reaches fixed restaurants, caterers, mobile food dispensing vehicles, hot dog carts, temporary event vendors, theme park food carts, culinary education programs open to the public, and vending machines that dispense potentially hazardous food.² For permanent restaurants, seating capacity sets the fee tier.

If your property does both, you need both licenses. A hotel with a breakfast buffet, for example, holds a public lodging license and a separate public food service license.³

What to Line Up Before You Apply

Several approvals and documents belong in hand before you open the application. Missing pieces stall the file.

Local Zoning, Fire, and Building Approvals

Local government comes first. You need zoning approval confirming the property is permitted for its intended use, fire safety clearance from the local fire marshal, and any required building permits. These are separate from the state license and must be resolved locally before you apply to DHR.

Plan Review for New or Renovated Food Establishments

A plan review is required for any food service establishment that is newly built, converted from another use, remodeled, or reopening after being closed for at least 18 months.⁴ Submit the completed application form, a scaled floor plan drawing with all equipment labeled, and a sample menu. The division reviews the package for sanitation and safety compliance. There is no separate fee for the plan review.⁵ You can send the license application and plan review together as one package.⁶

Certified Food Protection Manager

Every food service establishment must have at least one certified food protection manager on staff. Certification requires passing a written exam accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Accreditation Board covering safe food handling, storage, and preparation.⁷ A new manager has 30 days from the start of the job to complete certification, and the certification lasts five years. If the certified manager leaves, you have 30 days to certify a replacement. The certified manager is also responsible for training food-handling employees in proper sanitation.

Balcony Inspection Certificate for Tall Lodgings

Any lodging establishment three or more stories tall must file a Certificate of Balcony Inspection (DBPR Form HR-7020) with its application. The inspection must be performed by someone whose education and experience make them competent to inspect multi-story buildings, and the operator is responsible for verifying those credentials. The certificate is valid for three years. On a change of ownership, the new operator either commissions a fresh inspection or files a copy of the previous owner’s still-valid certificate with a new form bearing the new operator’s information.

Water and Sewage Approvals

If the facility uses a septic system or a private well rather than municipal service, you need documented approval from the Florida Department of Health. County health department offices permit and inspect onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems.⁸

FEIN and Ownership Disclosures

Corporate entities need a Federal Employer Identification Number on the application. The IRS online application at irs.gov issues one instantly when the responsible party has a valid taxpayer identification number; applying by fax takes about four business days, and mail takes four to five weeks.⁹ The application also requires the name and Social Security number of every person holding 10 percent or more of the equity in the business. Foreign nationals without a Social Security number may need to obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) using IRS Form W-7 first.¹⁰

What It Costs

Every new application or change-of-ownership application carries a flat $50 application fee, plus a $10 Hospitality Education Program (HEP) fee that is never prorated, plus the license fee itself.⁵

Food service license fees run by category. Permanent restaurants with 1 to 49 seats pay $262 per year; those with 500 or more seats pay $357. Nonseating food operations pay $242, caterers $263, and mobile food dispensing vehicles and hot dog carts $347. Temporary food vendors at events lasting one to three days pay a flat $91.⁵ Statute caps the aggregate food service fee at $400, not counting the application and HEP fees.¹¹

Lodging fees run by unit count and property type. Hotels, motels, and bed and breakfast inns range from $190 for a single unit to $370 at 501 or more units. Vacation rental fees for single and group licenses range from $170 to $350; collective vacation rental licenses use a formula of $150 base plus $10 per rental unit, plus the $10 HEP fee.¹² The statutory cap on aggregate lodging fees is $1,000, again excluding the application and HEP charges.¹¹

Applying within six months of the next renewal date for your licensing district lets you pay a half-year license fee instead of the full annual amount. The $10 HEP fee and $50 application fee are not prorated.¹²

Applying and Passing the Opening Inspection

All applications go through the DBPR online services portal. Create a DBPR online account first; you’ll use it to submit the application, receive official correspondence, track status, and print the license once issued.¹³ Choose the form that matches your classification, upload the plan review materials, balcony certificate, and local approvals that apply, and pay the application, license, and HEP fees at submission.

After the division processes the application, you must pass an opening inspection before you can legally operate. Schedule it through the DBPR Customer Contact Center. An inspector visits the establishment to verify that the physical space, equipment, and operations meet sanitation and safety standards.

Two exceptions cut this step. Vacation rentals and timeshare projects do not require an opening inspection. And if you are taking over an existing establishment through a change of ownership, no plan review is needed, and the previous operator received a satisfactory routine inspection within 120 days of your application’s postmark date, the opening inspection is waived.¹⁴

Keeping the License Active

Licenses renew annually on a staggered schedule that divides the state into seven licensing districts by county, each with its own expiration date. Miami-area licenses expire October 1, Tampa-area licenses February 1, and Orlando-area licenses April 1, and your expiration date stays fixed regardless of when you first applied.¹⁵ The division emails renewal reminders to the address on your DBPR online account.

Miss the deadline and the fees escalate. Within 30 days after expiration, a $50 delinquent fee is added on top of the renewal fee. Between 30 and 60 days late, that fee doubles to $100.¹¹ Past 60 days, the division can refuse to renew, and you may have to apply for an entirely new license.

Holding a license also means accepting unannounced inspections. The division inspects most public lodging establishments at least twice a year; transient and nontransient apartments get at least one annual inspection. Food service establishments are inspected on a risk-based schedule tied to the type of food preparation, the kind of service, and the establishment’s inspection history, with at least one and no more than four routine inspections per year.¹⁶

Report significant changes during the license period. A change in ownership requires a new application and a new $50 application fee, and cannot be handled through the renewal process. Changes to your mailing address, trade name, or substantial structural or operational modifications also need to be reported.¹

Penalties for Operating Without a License

Administrative penalties reach up to $1,000 per offense, and each day of unlicensed operation counts as a separate offense.¹⁷ A week of unlicensed operation can produce $7,000 in fines before other consequences. The division can also require the operator to complete a remedial food safety education course at their own expense, suspend or revoke the license, and refuse to issue or renew any license until outstanding fines are paid.

Criminally, operating without a license is a second-degree misdemeanor, carrying up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine under Florida’s general penalty provisions.¹ The division will post a closed-for-operation sign on the establishment, and removing that sign is itself a separate second-degree misdemeanor.¹⁷

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 509.241 – Licenses Required, Procedure, Penalties
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 509.013 – Definitions
3
MyFloridaLicense.com. Hotels and Restaurants – Lodging Definition
4
MyFloridaLicense.com. Hotels and Restaurants – Plan Review
5
MyFloridaLicense.com. Hotels and Restaurants – Food Service Fees
6
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Application for Fixed Public Food Service Establishment License with Plan Review
7
Florida Department of Health. Food Manager Certification
8
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Onsite Sewage Program
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4 – Application for Employer Identification Number
10
Internal Revenue Service. How to Apply for an ITIN
11
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 509.251 – License Fees
12
MyFloridaLicense.com. Hotels and Restaurants – Lodging Fees
13
MyFloridaLicense.com. Division of Hotels and Restaurants
14
Legal Information Institute. Florida Code Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 61C-1.002 – Licensing and Inspection Requirements
15
MyFloridaLicense.com. Hotels and Restaurants – Licensing
16
Florida Senate. Florida Code 509.032 – Duties
17
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 509.261 – Revocation or Suspension of Licenses, Fines, Procedure